Getty Images are busy editing and uploading what’s left of the archive of photographer Jacques Lowe.
Lowe began his photographic career in New York City – first as assistant to Arnold Newman, then making a name for himself in his own right as he freelanced for magazines.
In 1960 he was invited to cover John F Kennedy’s presidential campaign, and after election victory, turned down a White House photographers job to become the personal photographer to JFK and his family which was to give him unprecedented access to Kennedy’s Camelot, and Lowe candidly documented the First Family at work and at play through one of the most compelling chapters of American politics.
40 thousand negatives of Lowe’s life’s work were stored in a fire-proof safe at the World Trade Centre, but on Sept 11th 2001 as tragedy struck they were destroyed. All that remained were 1500 contact sheets that had been placed elsewhere in New York. These images, often scratched and covered in the original marks of the photographer’s editing and printing notes, would became the focus of a restoration project that painstakingly salvaged what might have otherwise been lost to history completely. Eventually the archive would be the subject of a major book and exhibitions.
A small selection of images are online already.
Above photos supplied: ©Jacques Lowe/GettyImages